2013 Dodge Viper - The Beast Is Back

The Viper is an anomaly. It’s a V10, not a V12 or a V8. The car has too many amenities to be called a race car, but not enough to be a real exotic. It has never offered cupholders, traction control, or an automatic option. When first introduced in 1992, the Dodge Viper was America’s middle finger to the high-end sports car market. Now the Viper is back for 2013, with an SRT name badge and slightly less middle finger, because now it has traction control.

“I’m sick and tired of all the mess about the car. When you have rumors it’s really hard to debunk them,” said President and CEO of SRT brand Ralph Gilles during the media launch in Sonoma, California. After a presentation in which SRT execs told us how refined and grown up this Viper is compared with previous models, we were randomly paired with fellow journalists and set free in the car. Our co-driver was a German correspondent experienced with Italian road rallies and classic Bugattis. His response to the Viper was something like, “It is brutal, and the exhaust is too loud and doesn’t have a very refined sound.” Our response? “Isn’t it awesome?”

1/1

The Viper still fits some of the stereotypes SRT is trying to kick. It’s loud in attitude—not just exhaust tone—brutally fast, has a snappy throttle, and the tight interior makes you feel like you’ve been shoved into an escape pod.

Our drive was in wet weather, and we thought the traction control was nothing more than a dummy button on the dash, but we discovered its real talent once we hit the track. Engaging traction control will keep the power to the pedal long enough to get you out of trouble, unlike other systems that abruptly kill power at the first sign of tire spin, but it will keep you from parking the car on a wall. Steering is nimble; thanks to the upgraded hydraulic system, it’s smooth, tight, and responsive. Torque is everywhere; in Sixth gear at 1,000 rpm, it still pulled. Despite its fearsome reputation, the car is incredibly easy to manage around a racetrack.

This is the fifth-generation Viper, but consider it Viper 2.0. The car was taken back to the drawing board but still kept its original ideas. The now-expected 8.4L, 90-degree V10 has an entirely new block casting with redesigned rods, stronger main caps, and forged pistons. The new plastic, glass-reinforced intake lost 7 pounds over the previous generation’s aluminum intake, the exhaust valves are sodium filled (saving 1 pound from the valvetrain), and the flywheel is now aluminum (shaving 11 pounds). Engineers have erased 150 pounds from the previous generation while still gaining 15 pounds of extra wiring. Better cooling in the heads and block allow the rear cylinders to run up to 40 degrees cooler than the previous generation. All these upgrades mean more aggressive tuning, less knocking, and easier power upgrades.

The body looks a lot like the last generation’s. With the long, aggressive nose, curvaceous doors, and roof bubbles, it still looks like a really hot plus-size model, but every panel, vent, and scoop has a purpose. The rear scoops behind the window feed the rear brakes, and the louvers in the hood produce downforce. The engineering team started with a narrower front end but widened it after research in the wind tunnel showed it needed more downforce. The roof, hood, and decklid are carbon fiber, while the doors are aluminum.

Every inch of the car was thoroughly thought out and worked on, but you’ll forget that quickly when driving it, because it’s easy, fast, and you forget what kind of torture you’re really giving the car. We’re more into muscle car than supercar, but the Viper made us feel comfortable and unstoppable. The clutch is light, the shifter has a shorter throw than some automatics, the seats keep you planted, the interior is strong and well made, and we rarely found the oversteering limit. The car tricks you into thinking you’re a better driver than you really are, and some may claim the previous generations were scary because they would bite back. This one made us feel like we can conquer the beast.

Viper Bites

The '13 Viper has a shorter overall length than a '12 Porsche 911.

The oil pan pickup spins freely, so when lateral force moves the oil, it also moves the pickup in the same direction. This is a very simple alternative to pricey dry-sump oiling.

The Viper has never offered cupholders.

The biggest rumor was that the V10 was originally a truck engine. Dodge was developing a V10 for trucks while the Viper was first being produced, but never used that truck engine in the Viper.

Every new engine is run on a dyno for 40 minutes checking for torque at specific points.

The fifth-generation Viper’s engine is 25 pounds lighter than the fourth-gen.

Cam in Cam

SRT uses a cam-in-cam camshaft design. This is a hollow cam that features only exhaust lobes and slotted holes. A solid cam slides inside the hollow cam with intake lobes that poke through the slotted holes in the outer exhaust cam. As rpm climb, the cam changes its lobe separation and valve timing, thanks to a phaser on the end of the cam. Viper engineers looked into overhead camshafts, but scrapped the idea due to engine-fitment issues.